by George Livadas

"The choice is open to us," Friedrich Hayek wrote in The Road to Serfdom, "between a system where it is the will of a few persons that decides who is to get what, and one where it depends at least partly on the ability and enterprise of the people concerned and partly on certain unforeseeable circumstances."

This year's Conservative University book program featured the timeless classic, The Road to Serfdom. Written by Friedrich Hayek, winner of the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics and possibly the greatest free-market economist of the twentieth century, The Road to Serfdom is every bit as relevant today as it was in 1944 when it was first published.

Despite Hayek's tremendous reputation and accomplishments, as well as The Road to Serfdom's relevance to society today, one would be hard pressed to find a college course description mentioning The Road to Serfdom as a required text. At Conservative University, The Road to Serfdom served to counter the plethora of college courses across the country devoted to praising the writings and radical theories of Communists such as Karl Marx and W.E.B. Du Bois. Dozens of college courses today offer "unrushed readings" and close analyses of Marx's work; yet, economics and business classes aside, it is nearly impossible to find a course syllabus that includes a book praising the immensely successful free-market economic system.

Participants in this year's Conservative University were fortunate to have Dr. Paul Gottfried-a professor of humanities at Elizabethtown College and author of The Conservative Movement - lead the book program by speaking on The Road to Serfdom. As an expert on the history and origins of conservatism (as documented in The Conservative Movement, in which Dr. Gottfried cites Hayek frequently), Dr. Gottfried noted, "The argument that Hayek makes is that what we really are fighting for should be freedom, and essential to freedom is economic freedom.…People should be free to dispose of income and property….And this is the true measure of freedom."

After Dr. Gottfried's speech, Conservative University students met in small discussion groups, led by Accuracy in Academia staff and consisting of about eight to ten students each, to analyze The Road to Serfdom and its relevance today.

In the discussion groups, students covered some of the key points made by Hayek in The Road to Serfdom. As Dr. Gottfried noted, Hayek's notion that democratic-socialism is an oxymoron is a key factor in realizing the inevitable failure of socialism.

Quoting W.H. Chamberlin, Hayek wrote, "socialism is certain to prove, in the beginning at least, the road NOT to freedom, but to dictatorship and counter-dictatorships, to civil war of the fiercest kind. Socialism achieved and maintained by democratic means seems definitely to belong to the world of utopias."

Contending that true, functioning socialism can only be achieved via inhumane and wholly tyrannical methods by which most advocates of socialism would be truly horrified, Hayek's claim is certainly relevant today, as many elite, left-wing academics continue to preach the supposed benefits of a "democratic-socialist" society.

Dr. Gottfried also pointed out Hayek's frequent use of purely economic arguments to bolster the case against socialism.

Specifically, Hayek wrote, "Men are, in fact, not likely to give their best for long periods unless their own interests are directly involved. At least for great numbers, some external pressure is needed if they are to give their best." Naturally, in a socialist society this "external pressure" would be some kind of forceful or cruel punishment, whereas in a competitive society the "pressure" to succeed would merely be each individual's self-motivation to prosper.

Another logical, rather than moral, argument that Hayek makes in defending competition against socialism is that competition, rather than the formation of a central power, is the only way to reduce the overall amount of power that men hold over each other. Hayek wrote, "To split or decentralize power is necessarily to reduce the absolute amount of power."

One discussion group in particular keyed in on Hayek's view in The Road to Serfdom that Europeans, before World War II, were far too unaware and ignorant of politics in general to see the rising and obvious threats to freedom that socialism created. The discussion group then related this point to American society today, contending that many voting Americans today simply do not have a reasonable understanding of political issues to cast a well-reasoned vote.

Unfortunately, many Americans today continue to maintain the false understanding of socialism as a means to achieve true equality; yet, as Hayek points out, socialism comes far from creating a just form of equality. Hayek makes the point that while democracy guarantees equality in opportunity (as opposed to economic and social equality), socialism guarantees only equality in servitude; and, in the socialist attempt to create some form of economic or class equality, different classes of people must be treated unequally in order to achieve the alleged economic equality.

As the discussion group pointed out, if only more Americans today could understand the fundamental flaws of socialism, then perhaps many would cease voting for and supporting some of the progressively liberal and left-wing causes.

Finally, Hayek also makes the point that without freedom, there can be no true goodness. Hayek wrote,"[Morals] can exist only in the sphere in which the individual is free to decide for himself and is called upon voluntarily to sacrifice personal advantage to the observance of a moral rule."

With many of today's elite universities promoting their own liberal agenda by praising the fundamentally flawed systems of socialism and communism, it is no wonder that Hayek's true classic is conspicuously absent from course syllabi. In his introduction to The Road to Serfdom, Milton Friedman commented, "This book has become a true classic: essential reading for everyone who is seriously interested in politics in the broadest and least partisan sense, a book whose central message is timeless, applicable to a wide variety of concrete situations. In some ways it is even more relevant to the United States today."

The relevance and significance of the issues in The Road to Serfdom did not go unnoticed by Conservative University students.

One student praised The Road to Serfdom, writing that it was a "very enjoyable and informational text, which strengthened my belief in the supreme importance of the individual's freedom to determine his own system of value within the constructs of the constitution and the law."

Despite the fact that it was written nearly sixty years ago, some students even referred to The Road to Serfdom as "a total eye-opener," while others noted its tremendous importance to America "at this juncture in history." One Conservative University student in particular, mentioned the interesting parallel between the socialist use of phrases such as "for the common good of all," and the continued use of such phrases today by modern progressive liberals.

Indeed, Conservative University's book program on The Road to Serfdom armed many conservative students with the necessary arguments to counter the countless professors who praise oppressive, socialist forms of government. Without a doubt, book programs on some of the great, but widely ignored, conservative books are absolutely necessary to ultimately provide a balanced education.